Girls continue strong play down stretch

By Margo Sullivan

Jamestown girls are contributing to the success of the North Kingstown varsity field hockey team. From left, Emma Lennon, 14, Holly Bobola, 17, Roma Patel, 17, Meghann Maguire, 14, and Camryn Wallace, 14.
Courtesy/Matt Largess The North Kingstown field hockey team, which has two weeks to go in the regular season, was back out on the practice field Friday afternoon following a 4-0 win over Tiverton the night before.

The win over the Tigers was their second straight shutout, but the girls weren’t resting on their laurels.

The 6-5 Skippers are holding on to third place in the Division I South standings behind East Greenwich (10-1-1) and undefeated Moses Brown (7-0-2). Moses Brown was undefeated last season, too, and the Skippers will have a chance to break the winning streak next Thursday in Providence. Although North Kingstown is poised to make the playoffs, several of the players said they’ve seen more adversity this season than normal. (Last season the Skippers finished the season with a record of 10-5- 1.)

According to coach Julie Maguire, the team is young but experienced. Several freshmen made the varsity, and although this team is their first in high school, most of them came up through North Kingstown’s rec program. They’re actually veterans of club teams, according to Maguire.

“They’ve all played before,” she said. In fact, Maguire has coached most of them when they were younger. She said Jamestown players have been prominent in the team’s success.

One of the freshmen, 14-yearold Camryn Wallace, plays forward. According to Camryn, the big difference is the connection between the players.

“I feel a lot closer than when I just played rec,” she said.

Meghann Maguire, another freshman, is also 14. She plays midfield so she works with the offense and defense. Meghann has been playing for three years in Team USA’s Futures league. Her twin sister, Maddie Maguire, is also a freshman who made the varsity squad, as is defenseman Emma Lennon.

Emma agrees with Camryn. She said there is a close connection between teammates.

“I feel our team became like a family,” she said. “Almost.”

Camryn, Emma and the Maguire twins are all playing on a school team for the first time.

Two 17-year-old Jamestown seniors are also on the team. Holly Bobola has moved over to the forward position this year. Last season she played more games as a midfielder. Roma Patel plays defense. She is one of the team’s three captains, along with North Kingstown’s Savannah Martin and Amanda Zerbinopoulos.

Roma’s defensive tactics are straightforward, she said. “I keep them to the sideline. I just block their poles.”

While the online standings say the Skippers are 6-6 in league play, Emma said the loss against the Wheeler School that ended 2-1 is being disputed. She expects the two teams to replay the overtime period.

Having an undecided game is an unusual situation, the players said. It happened because the referees gave both teams incorrect information.

According to Meghann, when the teams went into overtime, the coaches had thought it was sudden death. But that wasn’t what happened. Instead, the referees told the players the overtime was 10 minutes. Wheeler scored first, and the Skippers tied the game before time ran out.

“We left thinking we tied,” Roma said.

The following day, North Kingstown’s athletic department received a telephone call announcing that Wheeler was being credited with the victory. But then after some consultation, the decision was made to replay the overtime.

The date has not yet been set.

The team schedule this week includes back-to-back away games against Pilgrim (3-8) and South Kingstown (2-10). The Skippers beat the Rebels at home in September. It was their most lopsided victory this season. crushing the Rebels, 6-0.

The team’s best effort, though, may have been a loss to undefeated Barrington, Meghann said. North Kingstown went down 1-0 but played well and held Barrington to a single goal.